My mail
box has been inundated with requests that I make some comment on the Mel
Gibson DUI story. I'm not sure it really matters because his DUI arrest
is his problem, but here goes. This column isn't to defend Gibson, but
rather to ask some reasonable questions. The question of anti-Semitism
and Mel Gibson is an old one; I wrote a column
about it on February 28, 2004. The issue of what is a Semite and what
constitutes anti-Semitism is the issue I attempted to cover in that column
by getting definitions of these terms, who Semites are and their religions.
After all, words have exact meanings and if people are going to toss around
words like "anti-Semite," at the very least they should have an understanding
of what those words actually mean.

Let's
look at Gibson's words as reported to date, but not yet verified by solid
evidence. We are told through media sources there is a video of the arrest
and Gibson's drunken behavior, so when that is made public, and it surely
will be despite his new legal counsel's best attempts to keep it out of
the public domain, we'll all get to see what happened. For now I'll use
what's been reported:

"F*****g
Jews. The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world." He then
asked the deputy, "Are you a Jew?"

If you
read my previously referenced column, I brought out this point:

"According
to these credible reference sources, Semites are peoples who speak Semitic
languages; the group includes Arabs, Aramaeans, Jews, and many Ethiopians
who may be of any religion they choose, they don't have to be of the Jewish
faith. So, can we conclude that being "anti-Semitic" applies to anyone
regardless of their religion who is of the family of Semitic speaking
peoples? If that is the case, where are the representatives of other "Semitic
speaking peoples" and why aren't they all over the stupid tube with the
"anti-Semitic" chant against Gibson and his movie? We have established
that Semites are people who speak Semitic languages. How then does that
make someone a hater of one specific religion, i.e. the Jewish faith,
an "anti-Semite" if the definition refers to people who speak Semitic
languages?"

To hear
Abraham Foxman, who heads up the virulent, anti-Catholic organization
known as the ADL, anyone who doesn't genuflect to someone of the Jewish
faith is somehow "anti-Semitic." Not anti-Jewish, but "anti-Semitic."
Heck, it doesn't even have to do with religion for Foxman to assassinate
your character. Some of my closest and dearest friends are of the Jewish
faith and they were appalled that Foxman had my picture up on his skin
head "extremist page" along with Joseph Banister, who is also Catholic.
Never mind that neither of us has ever had anything to do with any hate
group, skin head group, never written anything remotely "anti-Jewish,"
etc., there we were, branded extremists by Foxman. Our sin: challenging
the unconstitutional Federal Reserve and asking reasonable questions about
the income tax laws.

Foxman
is back on his band wagon of waging war against militias as if it were
some foreign by-product created by terrorists. As you can see on
the ADLs site, regarding militias: "With signs of growing activity
in recent months, active groups or cells in at least 30 states, and continuing
criminal incidents, the militia movement has proven that it deserves
increased scrutiny. Ironically, efforts by the U.S. to fight foreign terrorism
may have the side effect of spurring increased resentment and growth among
domestic extremist groups."

Continuing
criminal intentions? Where is any proof that individuals in this country
who have a full understanding of the recorded history of this republic
and the critical role of the militias under the control of the state legislatures
are guilty of "continuing criminal intentions?" This is just one more
blatant example of the bastardization of America's history by an angry
old man. There are crazies out there, no doubt about it. But, if you read
the cited posting above on the ADLs web site, anyone who questions
Bush's phony war on terrorism or the Patriot Act and is concerned about
their God-given rights, is an extremist in the mind of Abraham Foxman
and deserving of having your reputation ruined by zero facts. I'm surprised
he hasn't singled out Dr. Edwin Vieira for his
scholarly writings on the true meaning of the Second Amendment. I
would venture to say that Foxman wouldn't dare slander Edwin because Edwin
Vieira is one of the finest legal minds in this country and he would not
allow Foxman and the ADL to ruin his good name with innuendo or plastering
his picture on their web site under the 'Extremism in America' section.

(By
the way, the ADL still has the "tax
protest movement" in the 'Extremism in America' section. My name has
been removed, but Joseph Banister's is still there. No doubt after this
column, I'll be back on the hit list so that someone doing a google search
will get Devvy Kidd as a target of the ADL for extremism. Crime: questioning
the income tax laws.)

Foxman's
promotion of such unfair character assassination does nothing to promote
fairness because what on earth is the crime in questioning America's income
tax laws or the constitutionality of the Federal Reserve Banking system?
As for the militias, they were an integral part of the security and
defense of this nation when it was birthed and must be reconstituted
- especially in this time of crazy terrorists who hate America and the
full blown invasion from Mexico that continues to fester thanks to a worthless
Congress and a sitting president who promotes and condones breaking existing
federal immigration laws.

Back
to Mel Gibson. He said that Jews are responsible for all the wars in the
world. Is that an anti-Semitic remark, a stupid statement or an accurate
definition of bigotry? I'm not splitting hairs here or trying a Clinton
parsing of words, this is a legitimate question. Bigotry is defined as:
The attitude, state of mind, or behavior characteristic of a bigot; intolerance.
So, now let's look at bigot: One who is strongly partial to one's own
group, religion, race, or politics and is intolerant of those who differ.

Gibson's
comment singles out a particular religion in a political statement. He
didn't say, "I hate people of the Jewish faith." Or, "People of the Jewish
faith are this that or the other and I can't stand them." He said that
people of the Jewish faith "are responsible for all the wars in the world."
If you consider his alleged dumb remarks "anti-Semitic," then that's your
opinion. Many feel it is not. No one should beat up on you or call you
names as a response. We all have our own opinions about certain things
and events and that's the beauty of the First Amendment.

I wonder
what the response would have been if Gibson said, "Zionism is responsible
for all the wars in the world"? I ask that question because over the years
I have read many books trying to understand why Arabs and Jews hate each
other so much. One excellent work is Arab and Jew: Wounded Spirits
in a Promised Land by David K. Shipler. There is so much hate between
these religions and people, and my personal opinion, take it or leave
it, is that this hatred is taught to their children at the earliest age
which will never bring peace and understanding. I've also learned
a great deal about something called Zionism from people of the Jewish
faith who condemn it. Jews
Against Zionism is a massive web site, very well laid out, which describes
its mission as:

"This
site was created to provide historical documentation refuting the misconception
that all Jewry supports Zionism (the existence of the so-called "State
of Israel") for website visitors seeking information on the history of
Zionism, its historical and current day impact on the Jewish community
worldwide and the danger it presents to us all.

"For
decades renowned Rabbinical leaders and scholars have opposed the creation
of a "Jewish State", supporting their opposition with words of the scriptures
and of the Torah, as being diametrically opposed to the ideology of Judaism.
We have provided many such quotations for the inquiring web site visitor
who is seeking such information. Although there are those who refuse to
accept the teachings of our Rabbis and will continue to support the Zionist
state, there are also many who are totally unaware of the history of Zionism
and its contradiction to the beliefs of Torah-True Jews."

Are
these folks "anti-Semitic" because they tell the true history of how the
State of Israel came into being and the long history since? Kind of difficult
to slather them with the inflammatory "anti-Semitic" brush, but no doubt,
it's been done by people like Foxman and other opportunists milking the
issue for all it's $worth.$

What
if Gibson had said "Muslims (or Arabs) are responsible for all the wars
in the world," Hollywood and Abraham Foxman would have cheered. Probably
not the champion of tolerance and socialism, the blowzy, constitutionally
fact challenged, Arianna Huffington. As with many over the past week,
she has all but stopped short in demanding Gibson be shot at dawn. Let's
not leave out the holier-than-thou maven of mindless chatter, Barbara
Walters, who has also called for Gibson's head. As has been pointed out
in other columns over the past week, Hollywood's power base and organizations
like the ADL have no problem with movies that depict Christianity on the
same par as something smelly running in the gutter and the most unflattering
depictions of Jesus Christ. No bigotry there, right? When I see all of
the hatred spewed by Hollywood against Christianity, know what I do? I
don't give them my money. Personally, I am sick to death of all the hate
in this country whether it is over religion or race. As a side note, I'm
sure it would distress Foxman if he knew the results of a poll on the
silly program Showbiz Tonight (CNN): a whopping 75% of the people polled
said they will still go see Gibson's movies. Doing research for this column,
I subjected myself to about ten torturous minutes of this highly rated
Hollywood nonsense just to obtain the poll numbers. What one endures in
the name of fact finding.

I'm
sure many more words will be written about this incident. Abraham Foxman
will continue to demand Gibson get down on his knees and kiss his robe
in atonement for stupid words allegedly yelled while drunk. Gibson employs
many people of the Jewish faith and it has been reported that a holocaust
survivor has forgiven him. However, it will never be enough for Foxman
because controversy brings big $$ into the ADL so they can continue to
demand more and more unconstitutional "hate crime" laws and demonize militias.

How
about the newly created office in the U.S. State Department to monitor
anti-Semitism around the world? This "conservative" Congress which has
completely ignored the U.S. Constitution since taking power in 1995, passed
another junk bill which calls for hunting "anti-Semites" worldwide and
Bush signed it:

"SUNRISE,
United States (AFP) - US President George W. Bush said he had signed
into law a bill requiring the State Department to monitor global anti-Semitism
and rate countries annually on their treatment of Jews. "This nation will
keep watch; we will make sure that the ancient impulse of anti-Semitism
never finds a home in the modern world," Bush said as he campaigned in
the key battleground state of Florida. The state's Jewish population is
the third largest in the world after Israel and New York."

There
will never be an office in the U.S. State Department (as well there
shouldn't be) to monitor hatred of Catholics around the world and believe
me, there is big time hatred of Catholicism in this country. Everyday
I get e-mail from Christians about "the Whore of Babylon" referring to
the Catholic Church. Such hate filled mail against Catholics is never
ending. The ADL would never stand for such a function under the U.S. government,
only one for hunting anti-Semitism. Never mind that the U.S. State Department
has no business monitoring how people around the world feel about any
religion. The U.S. Constitution does NOT authorize the people's purse
to be plundered for this type of expenditure - regardless of which religion,
it's simply unconstitutional.

Mel
Gibson is in deep doo-doo, no doubt about it. He knows driving drunk (allegedly
87 in a 45) was a stupid move. He knows how dangerous it was and how lucky
he is he didn't kill or maim an innocent person or himself. I have driven
by Moonshadows before, so I know where it is in Malibu and the road he
was on to his home in Pacific Palisades. He has bought himself a semi-truck's
worth of legal problems, not to mention domestic. I doubt his wife, Robyn,
has been overjoyed to see the cell phone video of him dancing drunk with
a harem of women at Moonshadows. Personally, I feel he has shamed his
wife by such public drunken behavior with women draped over him at 1:00
am while Robyn is home with his children.

Gibson
can fight his own battles. While this incident has provided a lot of salacious
stories and indignation by Abraham Foxman and others, the world is still
in a state of madness. Innocents of all faiths are dying in the Middle
East. Congress has gone on a month long vacation while illegals, terrorists
and vicious gangs continue to pour across the border. We the people need
to keep focused and let Gibson go through his rehab to treat what he has
admitted is a battle with the bottle, the legal process and take care
of his own personal problems.

Devvy Kidd authored
the booklets, Why A Bankrupt America and Blind Loyalty, which sold close
to 2,000,000 copies. Devvy appears on radio shows all over the country,
ran for Congress and is a highly sought after public speaker. Your complimentary
copy of the 32-page report may be obtained from El
Dorado Gold. Devvy is a contributing writer for www.NewsWithViews.com.

Gibson can fight his own battles. While this incident has provided a lot
of salacious stories and indignation by Abraham Foxman and others, the
world is still in a state of madness. Innocents of all faiths are dying
in the Middle East. Congress has gone on a month long vacation while illegals,
terrorists and vicious gangs continue to pour across the border.